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2015.03.17 - The Hunter and the Hunted
It is darkening outside and the weather is still foul. Nate got back to Halo from the theater about an hour ago. Earlier than most days, but he has a date... or something like a date. After teasing Kendra for almost two months, he was pretty sure there wouldn't be movie dates because she was avoiding anything remotely romantic with him. Seems he was wrong. He is happy he was wrong. And now he is waiting for her. One day, poor Nate will have to come to terms that the movie dates are not romantic, at least not on Kendra's part. And while she does have reservations about this outing (not date!), she still lost a bet and she will always pay her dues. And beside that, Nate is a friend and she loves movies, and it's nice to go out with friends and have fun. Either way, Kendra does eventually appear, decked out in a pair of jeans and sweater, winter boots, a heavy coat, as well as gloves, scarf and a jaunty little knitted cap. Unlike other women out there, Kendra's hair is too short to protect her head and neck from the winter chill that's still about. "Hey, Nate." The de-winged woman calls out, as she makes her way to him, "How's it hanging?" There are a few things they are not going to agree anytime soon. And although Nate loves movies (he likes almost anything) if he is going alone with a pretty girl it is usually for romantic reasons. Otherwise he could try to get a larger group of friends. Look, he just shaved and combed his hair and all. He is looking far less scruffy than most days. When Kendra shows up at the War Room, he kills the sound on the TV (he was, again, watching the news) and stands up. "Hawk Lady. Looking good. I was almost bored, so you are a life-saver." "Ha. A red or a green one?" She says to his last statement, seeing if he gets her little pun, she's betting not what with him coming from an alternate timeline. Did they even have candy in his world? It's definitely something to contemplate another time. And when she finally gets a good look at him, she'll squint her eyes as she pretends to give him the once over. "Something looks different." She teases, obviously in a good mood this night. "What is it?" Yes, she's obviously noticed he 'cleaned' himself up, for this supposed 'date'. "I can't quite put my finger on just what is different about you tonight." "A tasty one, I am sure," replies Nate. He reaches for a coat but looks back at her when she mentions him being different. "I have no idea what you mean. I have not been replaced by an evil doppelganger from other dimension, that only happens some Wednesdays." He folds his arms and look at Kendra inquiringly. "Do you want coffee, or a drink, or go straight for dinner somewhere, before the movie?" His comeback earns a quirk of a grin, from the short-haired woman, "Nice one." Kendra says, even as she adds, "I wasn't sure if you'd get that I was making a pun there." As to his doppelganger remark, she can't help but snort a laugh, saying as she buttons her coat up. "Wednesdays, funny. And dinner sounds good. If we want to grab some coffee we can grab it there. Did you have a place in mind? Otherwise I know this perfect little burger place we can go to." Hey, it has been three years, Nate still fails sometimes pop culture quizzes, but he is mostly up to date. "I know about candy," he remarks with a smirk. And since she wants to go, he picks up his coat and takes her back to the elevator. "Lead on, I know a few places close by, but I am always interested in finding more. Burgers sound good." "Well, it's good that you know about the finer things in life, Nate." Kendra says with an amused tone to her voice, as she steps into the elevator. Once both are inside, she'll punch the button for the lobby floor. "Seriously, you look good. Not that there's anything wrong with the scruffy look, but it's always nice to clean up a bit now and then." Her knitted hat will be pulled slightly lower over her ears, to keep them warm as she steps out of the elevator and into Halo's lobby. "So, I hope you like the movie I picked for us. I waffled between two of them, but decided to go with this one." And yes, she's purposely being obtuse with what movie she picked. And then with a side-look towards Nate, Kendra considers pushing home the not a date thing some more, but decides against it. At least, for now. For now, she stays on safe topics. Like food. "What sort of burgers do you like? They have pretty much everything at this place and if they don't, they'll happily make it for you." Scruffy? Nate snorts in good mood. "Look, I lead an active life, y'know?" Training, flying at supersonic speed, and in the theater they are always moving and building stuff, because his friends are poor as rats. "I can't be... looking like a movie star all the time. Right?" Pause, "I like the burgers that are good to eat. And also trying new things." "Movie star?" Kendra says and turns a look towards Nate, "Here let me find a pin to pop your egotistical bubble there." And while her words may sound harsh, in reality she's laughing at his humor as she gives a grin towards Nate. Shaking her head, she'll push the door open and step outside just in time for a gust of winter air to rush on by. "Man, I'm ready for spring." Kendra mutters, before she glances towards the street and then Nate. "So, be good and take a cab like good little sheep, or cheat and have you fly us there?" Nate raises his hands, to protect himself (and his ego) from imaginary pins. "Why? I am almost ready for Hollywood..." he adds. Oh, this nice winter from New York. It feels colder than the last one, or maybe he is getting softer. "You will be missing the snow in three months, I know I will. As for that... lets be bad sheeps, hmm?" Or at least impatient sheeps. He offers her his hand and, up they go. "I am all for being a bad sheep." Kendra exclaims, even as she accepts his hand, "Not that I was much of a good sheep to begin with." She adds as an afterthought, and when he raises them upward in the air, Kendra will point in the general direction of the burger cafe. "It's not too far from here. Look for the little place with a neon sign. It'll read Burger Hop. They have a nice retro 1950's feel to the cafe. It's really cute." Glancing below the two of them, Kendra will watch the street and buildings (and people) fly by, as they speed on their way to their destination. "I love flying." She says, looking at Nate, "Everything always looks peaceful from way up here." And then, "Sometimes I wish I had powers, sure I have the wings, but they're a bit hard to hide when you want to keep them close to you." As the two rise upward in the air, a pair of keenly intelligent eyes watch the floating pair from a street corner near the building. Then like a rat ducking back into a hole, the figure vanishes within an alleyway, his stakeout of the building ending for the moment. And Nate is... hell, all his 'family' are superheroes. Shepherds more than than sheep, he guesses. "I love flying too, but this height... still feels very crowded. 'Cause New York is always crowded for a telepath. And you know... don't hide them. Those wings are awesome. And I know some people with wings. One of these day I'll tell you about Swift." Retro 50s look for a burger place. That sounds strange enough to be cool. He picks up the address from Kendra's memory they can be there in a minutes. The cab would have taken twenty. "Crowded for you maybe -" Kendra says with a faint smile, before she nods at the mention of Swift. The name doesn't sound familiar to her, but she files the name away for future reference. As they get closer to the restuarant and the neon sign is visible, Kendra will point towards said burger place. Not like Nate can't see it, or knows where it is thanks to the address from her memory, but she still automatically points towards it. "There it is. Lets land a little ways down, so we don't scare too many people. I'd like to eat, not get goggled at because we came in unusually." "I know, I know..." and all those secret identities. Nate doesn't have any, and they rarely try to kill him because of it. Still, he lands at some distance and tries a telepathic invisibility field when they come down. It usually keeps most people in the dark and well-behaved. "Or you can come to Mutant Town and they will approve the wings. Unfortunately, the restaurants are not great." "It's not so bad in Mutant Town. Some of the food isn't half bad." Kendra says, as the two land and yes, even the eyes that were watching them, have become blinded - but that doesn't stop them. Deter for a little bit, sure, but not stop. Once the two are on the ground, Kendra once more pulls her hat down around her ears, as she makes her way to the burger joint. As they walk, she does drift to a little bit of work, as she adds, "Oh, by the way since our last conversation, I've started to reach out to some of my old 'friends' - " And with the way she says 'friends' it's clearly very 'loosely', "- To see if they have any info on Intergang." She keeps her voice low enough, so others won't overhear. Nate drops the telepathic cloak when they get closer to the door of the restaurant. Perhaps not the best idea because Kendra starts talking about Intergang. He clenches his jaw and nods. "Where, here or in Gotham?" He asks, opening the door for her. "Here primarily, but I'll make sure to reach out towards Gotham." She says and then when the door is opened for her, she smiles, before entering the establishment. And as Kendra had stated, it's definitely a throwback to the 50's. The decor is very art deco, black and white, with the typical checkered patterns along the floor and countertops. The waitresses also sport an older costume of sorts, of a 'waitress', with the white skirt and shirt and white apron, along with an old-time nametag. As soon as the two are inside the burger joint, Kendra will nod towards a corner booth. "How's that look? This place is a seat yourself and the waitresses will come on over once you're settled." Nate shakes his head, "lets work with New York first," he states. He studies the restaurant for a few seconds, and then nods at Kendra. The table is close to the backdoor and will let watch over most of the restaurant, so it is good. It is not paranoia when you come from his background. Not to mention the fantastically terrible track record of his dates (they are dates - damnit) with Kendra. As Nate and Kendra settle into the corner booth, both of their backs against a wall, versus towards the door, said waitress comes over. She's cracking bubble gum in her mouth, as she pulls out two menues and places them before the two of them. "The special is our everything burger, topped with a fried egg. Comes with a side of fries. Do you two need a moment?" She asks, and Kendra flashes a quirk of a smile, "Please. Give us like ten and we should be good to go." With a nod the waitress moves over to one of her other tables, reaching for the empty plates left there. As for Kendra, she picks up the one page menu and says, "All the burgers here are good and they have great fries. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I recommend the bacon cheeseburger." And while Kendra rattles off the good points of each burger, outside those observant eyes have finally found their quarry again. It took some time, but a person's scent isn't typically disguised by telepathy. Nate was going to immediately accept the special. He likes burgers with 'everything'. In fact, he likes everything with everything. Breakfast with him often gets into bizarre territory. But... okay, ten minutes won't kill him. "I am going to follow your advice, with hmm... extra fries. " He nods and grins to the young woman. Instead of paying attention outside. Kendra has this distracting effect on him, and it has been a while since Forge smacked him upside down for not being watchful enough. Kendra takes her time with choosing her burger, but eventually she does pick one. "Have you ever had gravy on your fries? That's pretty good too. Usually you can get chicken gravy or beef gravy on your fries. I recommend beef gravy, if you want to go that route." Once the ten minutes are up, the waitress comes back her little pad of paper and pencil in hand. "What will it be?" She asks again, first looking to Kendra and then Nate. "I'll take the bacon cheeseburger, with fries." Once she's ordered, the de-winged woman will look towards Nate. Outside the watcher finally moves, though not with his attack, not yet. Now he's just positioning himself. He's making his way from shadow to shadow, towards the windows closest to the two. He may not always be able to have 'eyes' on them, but he saw enough to know where the two are seated. "Bacon cheeseburger with extra fries and beef gravy," is Nate's order. See? He pays attention. Just not always where he should. Fortunately, he picked the place in the restaurant carefully, and the cold keeps most normal people off the streets. The shadowy stalker doesn't have it easy to come close unobserved. In fact Nate glances outside briefly, but more curious at some glimpsed movement than really paranoid. The waitress jots down the orders, before adding, "I'll bring you both some water. Anything else to drink?" She asks, to which Kendra simply shakes her head at. "Water's fine with me." The waitress will wait for Nate to add anything to his order, for drinks, before exiting stage left to put the orders in. "So, I've been thinking. I have this project for a class, to show a side of the world people don't see." Begins Kendra, as she settles back against her seat, "And I was thinking of doing something with the costumed world." Her voice is quieter than it needs to be, but one never knows who's listening. "And I was thinking of seeing if the team would like to get in on it. It wouldn't be expose their identities or anything of that sort, but pictures showing them in their 'costumed' persona." Outside, the hunter waits. He may not see that Nate is looking outside, but this hunter has stalked enough prey to know that one has to be /very/ patient before striking. And it's only when he feels it's safe, that he'll start to move toward a next shadow, cinching closer and closer to the diner. They forgot drinks, oops. But water is good, they can get sodas for the movie. Kendra's proposal gets a skeptical look, though. "I can get you in touch with a few super-humans, mostly mutants. But look... frankly, normal folks do not want to know what we do. In fact, it is better they don't. If they knew how dangerous is the world, and how close they are to lose everything on almost a daily basis, they... well, I think the world would be nastier." "Nate, I get where you're coming from but I think the world needs to know /something/." Kendra says, even as she toys with her silverware, "You know how bleak living on the streets, or in your case a post-apocalyptic world can be. Sometimes knowing there's someone out there looking out for your well being, or at the very least the world's, is a very positive influence." "And I'm not even talking about mutant versus non either, just anyone who's helping it be a better place." Kendra shakes her head, "Silence and shuffling it under the rug does no one any good. And before you say anything else, I'm not talking about telling the world all about the BIG world destroying nasties out there. Just the people who try to do good. I plan on including the every day heroes too, doctors, nurses, fire fighters -" There's a faint grimace upon her features, "- Even cops." He's almost there. Sitting across from the window nearest the two, the man waits. He's crouched low in an alleyway the darkness and shadows cloaking his large form completely. Only the quick flash of green from his eyes could give him away, but it was green - so clearly an alleycat is there, right? Nate frowns faintly. "No, I get it. Just the whole..." he gestures vaguely outside. "It seems made to insulate the average guy of the harshness of the universe. Most don't even want to know about the life in the streets, which is just outside their doors. I get maybe it would be better if they would be more educated and aware, but I have no idea where to start, and it would change so much we are talking about an alien world." "The whole premise of Stormwatch was we would protect from the shadows, because normal humans are better not knowing there are all-powerful demons plotting the end of humankind, and advanced hostile aliens races... damn, it sounds really arrogant now," and Spartan and Magik sound more convincing when they spin this idea. One talking from his alien 5000+ years of experience, the other from her throne in Limbo. "Well, if you want to write about the local impact of good-doers, I guess it is a good idea." "I think you're confused, Nate. I'm not going to /write/ anything." Kendra says with a faint grin upon her lips, "It'll be pictures. That's it. With titles of course, but nothing will be in print beyond pictures and whatever I decide to title them." Glancing outside, Kendra isn't really looking per se, just gathering her thoughts. "And like I said, I'm not going to rip the rose tinted glasses off of people's face, or open Pandora's box, but I'd like those that are so naive to the world outside of them, even when it just comes to seeing the poor and destitute, to see what's beyond their particular 'world'." At this point the waitress comes back and sets both of their plates down with a solid sounding thunk, "Here you go. Let me know if you need anything else." Though she doesn't really wait for them to add anything to their order, instead just scurrying away. Kendra snorts, "Not always the best service, but the food makes up for it." And just as Kendra is about to pick up her burger, that's when disaster strikes. From that alleyway the man leaps, a feat that's obviously superhuman, as he doesn't touch the ground until he's at that window and SHATTERING through it. The explosion of glass is enough to cause the whole diner to erupt into shrieks and screams from startled staff and diners alike. For Kendra, the explosion from the glass has her automatically ducking downward, away from the noise, saying, "What the hell?!" And in the midst of glass and debry is a man, or at least, a beast-man. He's at least nine feet tall, completely furred, and looks to be crossed with a lion. His head looks completely like a lion, while the rest of the body (while furred) is very human. His hands and feet have long deadly claws upon them, and ironically, he also has a tail, which likely helps with his balance. Nate sometimes forgets Kendra is a photographer. He tends to associate college with people writing boring reports and doing weird experiments in basement labs. A collection of pictures seems much more interesting. "Sure... although maybe the Justice Lea..." Then the window shatters, and the young man reacts quickly, creating a telekinetic shield to protect them from glass shards and jumping to his feet at the same time. He faces the... catman monster guy he has never seen before. Well, okay... "friend of yours?" He mutters to Kendra. Rising upward, Kendra's hand drops toward her waist, where a knife is discreetly tucked in. "A friend of mine? I don't know /any/ cat men, thanks." But even as she states those words, she can't help but frown slightly at the golden furred man. There's something there, but it's so far away. Tucked away in memories that have been corrupted thanks to her botched reincarnation. And while she still denies that she knows him, the furred man turns towards the two that were in that back booth. "It has been a long time." Comes the man's growl-laced voice, "Where are your wings? Your mask?" He turns his slitted cat eyes upon Nate, "You are not the winged man." His eyes turn back to Kendra, "Where is your mate? I wish to kill you both this night!" His threat is enough to snap Kendra out of her confusion, as she immediatelly turns a look towards Nate. "I suppose it is a 'friend' of mine." The knife is pulled out and while it's a small thing compared to her bowie knife, she at least has a weapon. The innocent bystanders at this point start to shake off their shock and immediately more screams erupt as they realize the danger they're in. The Lion Man immediately laughs a deep sound within his chest, as he pounces towards a young gawky man. "Perfect." With a clawed hand he quickly picks the man up and flings him towards Nate and Kendra. Yup he's going for a distraction, as he follows up that attack with a leap towards Kendra. Nate smirks at Kendra, "cats and birds, I guess... hey!" That was quite the ruthless move, throwing an innocent bystander to them. Nate drops the shield to try to catch up the young man before he splatters against the wall. Which leaves Kendra unprotected for a few seconds. "Everyone out!" He shouts, putting some telepathic pressure in his worlds. Some of the customers were trying to get pictures with their cellphones. You know New Yorkers. Yes, New Yorkers, anything for a cool picture it would seem. Thankfully that telepathically reinforced 'get out' does it's job, as the majority of the people start to run for the door. That doesn't mean they're getting quickly, but at least they're heading /away/ from that Cat Man. While Nate goes to save the young man trying to become wall art, Kendra is indeed left behind, but that doesn't mean she's completely defenseless. As soon as the Cat Man drops close to her, she says with bared teeth, "Let me guess. We kicked your ass in a past life, right? Made you into a rug? Or maybe a wall hanging. I could see you as hanging on our wall." And while she normally doesn't talk the we and ours when it comes to her and Carter's life, today she does, to try and enrage the Cat Man. And it's enough that he does howl. "I am no one's rug!" His claw-tipped hands lash out towards Kendra, trying to gut her, but Kendra expected that move and so, she leaps backwards just barely out of harms way. As for Nate, he does indeed catch the gawky young man and the terrorified man says simply, "Oh my god, thanks man. I thought I was going to die." And while Lion Mane missed Kendra, that doesn't stop his next attack as he rips the table from the floor and swings it towards Kendra. Nate says nothing to the rescued man, but pushes him towards the door. Too late, he sees the table flying towards Kendra and he snarls. "Hey, cat head!" He calls the lion-man. "Here, catch this one," he grabs one of the other tables with a hand, but lifts it with telekinesis, throwing it at high speed to the feline villain. A second later, he flies stand one his way to Kendra, checking briefly to see if the young woman is alright. Kendra has enough time to attempt to dodge the table, but it's not enough time to get completely out of the way and so, she's hit quite hard with that table. Thankfully, she was able to move enough that instead of it cracking over her head, it instead smashes against her arms and the back of her rib cage. Still, it hurts, and it's enough to cause her to shout out in pain and drop to her knees. That knife of hers is still clutched in her hand, but for now she hasn't attacked with it yet. Nate's table does indeed fly at high speed towards Lion Mane, but he laughs a loud roaring sound. "Puny attack." No matter, he just did the same thing, but for Lion Mane he's toying with his 'prey'. Trying to get her to fight, before he moves in for the kill. Either way, the table that Nate tossed at Lion Mane is easily caught in his claw-tipped hands and when Nate makes his way over to Kendra, that's when the next attack comes. "No better than a cub." Snarls Lion Mane and then that table that he had caught from Nate, is swung brutally towards the mutant. Kendra for her part, sees what's about to happen and reaches out to Nate, "DUCK!" "Nah," instead of ducking, Nate puts all his telekinesis in reinforcing his own body and raises an arm to parry the table-club. It shatters in a thousand fragments, and Nate jumps forward aiming a charged punch to the head of the beast-man. It is the third time an asshole interrupts one of his dates with Kendra. There is a considerable amount of anger in that punch. But at least Kendra is still talking, she had him worried for a second. "Oh ho." Comes the Lion Mane's taunt, "The cub has claws and teeth. Good. This will make it more fun." The table shattering barely causes the cat man to blink, nor does Nate's attack towards him. Simply because, he ducks away from that reinforced punch. Clearly, this is not your average mutant, meta, whatever. His reflexes seem to be super-human, or even somewhat above that. Grinning to show a mouthful of sharpened teeth, Lion Mane offers another taunt. "Missed, boy." Kendra finally staggers to her feet and mutters, "Seriously, I need some powers." And while she does have that rather self-defeating thought, that doesn't stop her from moving to the side, away from Nate as Kendra tries to line up a point of attack. On her way over, a chair is picked up and thrown towards the Lion-Headed man. It may not have the same strength or speed as Nate or the furred man has, but it's a distraction at least. "Think fast!" She shouts. And distract it does, but only momentarily, as the chair is caught in one of Lion Mane's hands. "Just what I needed." He snarls, before that chair is swung towards Nate's head. This time Lion Mane is employing all his strength, which is considerable and while it may not necessarily crush Nate's skull, should he simply reinforce his body again, it might cause him to have a little ringing in the head. That chair would need to be something harder than wood or plastic, or even most metals, to hurt Nate right now. The chair is also shattered and he only smirks. "I got what you need, furball," he growls, his left eye glowing brightly just before he strikes with a forceblast, almost point-blank. Not full strength, because there are too many people still around, but he is blasting with several tons of force. While he was prepared for Nate to bust the chair with his powers, he wasn't necessarily prepared for that telekentic force blast and as such, he goes /flying/. Right into a wall and the thud that accompanies that hit is quite impressive. Sadly, he is not /out/ for the count as it were. Instead as soon as he drops back to his claw-tipped feet and step away from the now dented wall, he gives himself a quick shake before he turns those felinoid eyes upon Nate. "Nice, the cub has teeth." Then those eyes turn back to Kendra, "But the other /doesn't/." And with a quick leap, Lion Mane is suddenly standing right next to Kendra. This definitely catches Kendra by surprise, but that doesn't stop her from stabbing her knife towards Lion Mane's midsection. "Ha. Milk teeth." He mutters as he intercepts the knife with one of his furred arms and while it slices the furred man's arm open, that doesn't seem to stop him. His uninjured arm darts out and quite easily, he snags Kendra around the neck. Picking her up by the 'scruff' if you will, as if she was indeed a kitten. Turning his gaze towards Nate, Lion Mane says, "Whatcha going to do now?" Kendra, for her part mutters, "God dammit. Never going anywhere without my costume again." And while she's caught as she is, that doesn't stop her from trying to kick backwards towards the man, but her kick doesn't seem to affect him as he gives her a hard shake. "Stop that." Then tightening his claws around his neck he adds, "A pity your mate isn't here to see this. It'd would have been nice to see his pain from your death." "You already said that, furball," comments Nate, flying towards the lion-man. But too slowly, he can't move quickly in the confined space of the restaurant, and the villain is far faster. He cries a warning to Kendra, which comes too late. "Leave her alone!" He shouts, trying to catch the larger man before he kills Kendra, grabbing at his head, or arms, and trying to pull back. "Coward scumbag, you had to find her unarmed... and then run away from me." Well, to say one thing, while Nate's attack isn't quite coordinated as Nate would probably like, it at least jostles the cat man enough to cause that killing blow, to just be an injurying blow. Kendra shouts, "Nate, no! Don't he's - " And while she'd likely have said more, whatever else she was to say is cut short as Lion Mane's claws burying themselves deep into her side. Her scream of pain easily echoes throughout the nearly empty diner, and the lion man grins. Then he's dropping Kendra to slap Nate, much like one would slap an irritating fly. "Boy, this fight ain't about you. I'm not running away from /you/. You are not my prey. You're just an irritant." And while he could have attacked Nate more, instead Lion Mane will simply reach out to toss Nate away from him. "And prey should know never to move around town unarmed. Someone's always hunting." Then, looking back to Kendra, the furred man finishes with, "If you want her to live, you best attend to her." He adds with a toothsome smile, "With his mate hurt, I will soon have another prey to hunt. Always he fights for her. Always." Empowered with telekinesis Nate is very strong, yet the lion-man manages to throw him away nevertheless, and he crashes through several tables and shatters the wall with the street. Even that is not enough to hinder him, and the young mutant jumps to his feet almost instantly. But instead of attacking again, he creates a forcefield around the injured Kendra. "You are not going to be able to hunt anything every again, furball. I am going to kill you now!" Given how quick he is, though, Nate is going to try a different approach, reaching to the villain's mind and see what he can break there. He needs a few seconds. Kendra makes no move to actually move. Instead she has a hand pressed to her side, but it's clear that she'll need medical treatment very soon, or she'll bleed out. The blood is already pooling rapidly beneath her. The lion man turns back at Nate's taunt. "Mewlings from a cub." He says, "You cannot kill me. I am a God." Or at least an Avatar, and when reaches out for Lion Mane's mind, he'll find it seething with nearly two personalities. That of the man that took upon the mantle of the Avatar and also, that of the God, who influences much of what Lion Mane goes after. And while it doesn't physicially stop Lion Mane, it does cause his furry brow to furrow as he mentally stumbles, but it's only for a moment, then that 'presence' focuses upon Nate and tries to 'over whelm' him. He just needs a second to cause Nate to stumble, to get Lion Mane out of harms way and back into the night, to wait for the arrival of Hawkman. Nate's eyes widen when he finds two minds instead of one. A man and... something old and powerful. That doesn't stall him for more than a fraction of a second, in the mental plane is supreme (well, unless Xavier is around, but don't remind him that). "I can kill 'gods', that is why I was made," he states, snarling to the lion-man. His psychic attack crashes head on with the mystical assault by the god entity, though, so Lion-Mane human mind manages to escape mostly unscathed, at least at first. The golden telekinetic shield around Kendra flickers as he gathers more power, but then the monster is retreating, and distance makes his psychic attacks weaker. He hesitates, because Kendra is injured and... bleeding a lot. "Damn you!" He runs to the woman, still trying to break Lion-Mane mental defenses, but his attention is divided. Lion Mane staggers, whether it's from Nate's onslaught, or feeling the God's attack back at Nate, is hard to say, but he does stagger. Only for a moment, sadly, and as soon as his feet are beneath him again (both mental and physical) the furred man snarls. And while he would have LOVED to attack, there are other plans in the works and so with a ROAR of anger and rage, the furred man leaps out of the busted window he originally came through. "Tell Hawkman I wait for him!" Are the last words, Lion Mane says, before his furred self disappears into the night. Eventually the distance and Nate's divided attention breaks whatever contact Nate tries to sustain with the two-minded creature. When Nate comes upon Kendra it looks pretty bad and is in fact, pretty bad. Her clothes are saturated with blood and even though she continues to hold her side, blood is seeping past her fingers and hand. Her eyes are closed and her face is already pale, but she's not unconscious, not yet for as soon as Nate gets close enough and his presence registers, her eyes will open. "Nate." She says weakly, "Never going anywhere without my wings again." She says, the barest trace of humor in her words. Nate has to leave the villain flee, it is obvious Kendra needs help immediately. He kneels at the injured woman's side and checks the injuries quickly, using her own clothes and his telekinesis for a quick bandaging. "Fair enough... we can find a place where they lets us into the movies in uniform, hmm?" He comments distractedly. Then pulls his halophone and hits an emergency code. "Where are your wings, Kendra? At Halo or your home?" Because she is going to need them soon. There is a flash of light, and Void pulls them off the restaurant and teleports them directly in the Halo Towers medlab. "My wings?" She asks stupidly, clearly not thinking well at this point. "In my room at the Towers. Why?" And then her eyes close again as that bit of talking taking what strength she has, even as Nate tries to stop the bleeding with his makeshift bandages. When they reappear in the medbay, it's enough to cause Kendra to open her eyes again and when she does - Nate might notice the difference with her eyes. Instead of her typical muddy green hazel color, her eyes are now completely brown. "Listen." She says, her voice sounding just the tiniest bit different, "Find Hawkman, Carter Hall. Let him know the danger." And as she speaks, her eyes turn back to that hazel again, "Let him know. Promise -" Likely she was going to say promise me, but that last word is cut off as she finally loses the battle against unconsciousness. Nate nods, placing Kendra on a stretcher. Void's Kheran medical drones are already coming to life like a swarm of oversized dragonflies. Nate lets them work, soaked with Kendra's blood, he runs to her room. The wings allow her to heal at high speed, so he is going to insist she has them while she recovers. He will send a message to the Hall of Justice in an hour or two, once the woman is stable. It takes time, but with Halo's advanced medbay and the technology within, eventually Kendra is stabalized. There was quite a bit of blood transfusions as they worked to close the gaping wound Lion Mane caused, but eventually that wound is closed, and the transfusions continue. It'll be some time before Kendra is awake, not to mention up and about with the usual spring to her step, but at least, she's alive. Finished Category:Log